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The Ladder…

December 9, 2011 in Life Lessons, Living Your Values, Making It Mine, She's So There, Sweetie As Strategist with 4 Comments

We’ve all heard the adage, “If you can just get out of your own way, you’ll succeed,” and I am here to affirm to you, those words are living truth. Whether I work with an author, a small business owner, a speaker, an artist, or an athlete, the rules for success are often universal. Your regional dialect, financial background, experiential scars, and situation have much less to do with your current moment and future than one simple thing: your ability to learn. The mistakes that roadblock progress toward individual goals are identifiable and predictable. We succeed through awareness of engaging key behaviors and paths to success. In my case, learning to accept that God is Sovereign and, despite all logic involved, if He wants something to succeed, the person, team, or business can do everything wrong and yet He makes it right. If on the other hand, it is not in His plan, every metric and logical step can be executed and it can still fail. We succeed by learning to learn. Sometimes the lessons have to repeated until the student is ready to accept the truth of the lesson’s importance. We do not appreciate or give adequate attention to anything we do not value. We often have to experience the importance of something through failure of our own or through a very close instructional viewing to value its worth. That’s why even if I could wave my ” Queen Mother Strategy Wand” over your royal head, as my clients like to tease me, many times it would do you more harm than good. If you were not ready for the next step…it would not help you for long. Success is ordered, often success is sequential. At times it is vertical learning experiences, but eventually infrastructure of success must be supported. Each success experience builds the next as your skills grow. Success can also kill you, if it happens before you’re prepared to deal with its own issues. Hollywood and young fame has often sadly shown us that. Netflix, a brilliant product, sadly had to learn that lesson as well but with effort, they will overcome the reteach.

A rookie mistake often witnessed when I travel to work with small business owners, educators, or VIP clients is that too many of us believe that we have to recreate the wheel to experience success. The fact is, we have to learn what doesn’t work, not do every silly mistake ourselves. Our ability to study, prepare, and use different methods than we have experienced affects our ability to succeed. Usually we visually or financially think “I need this or that”…as in a website, product, more time, opportunities, or a handout to have a chance at success. Our beliefs are a funny thing, they create our realities. Ouch. Many times the thing we needed was within our reach, but our ego, or the latest marketing campaign led us to believe we could not do without something…or perhaps our own fear did. Very often that thing wasn’t even required to succeed at all. The world seems to say “YOU are not enough” when God says “I will provide for your needs” its a tough concept (I can assure you God and I have had that conversation a few hundred thousand times through the years when I didn’t heed His advice or truths).

When I wasn’t ready to learn what was being taught…

There is a story that tells the tale of a man on earth wanting to go to heaven without dying. The fact was, a ladder was sent for him from heaven….but Jacob still had to climb the ladder to succeed in his goal. We silly humans often think that no such thing happens for people today. Again, I see in my daily life ladders from heaven sent through individuals in the form of opportunities that are missed, lost, or not even climbed because the person offered the ladder was too busy in their own mires of false beliefs to even perceive what was before them.

You see,

You don’t always have to cut down your own tree to climb or create a ladder

If you perceive the path of your personal success as impossible, your brain in its inner workings can create an impossible path. If your perception is that to have a ladder you have to cut down a 125 foot tall 5 foot round tree, you may just convince yourself it is impossible. But that is only a misconception. Trees are hard to cut down, whittlin’ a ladder, almost an inconceivably hard task from the perspective of chopping down a 120 ft five-feet around oak before you….Sometimes to get to the next place, you don’t need to chop down the tree. But, if you do not know how to evaluate the problem, study those who get past the problem, or look for ways around the problem, you may miss that the problem doesn’t exist. In fact, you may end up cutting your own limbs off doing something you had no business doing to begin with (Can I hear an Amen?). If you are able to be taught, if you are teachable, you can get up, study your situation from all sides of the problem. In that seeking the solutions set, you may just look around the perceived need, walk around the view that belief is blocking, and see that the truth is doable. You may have perceived that you had to cut down the tree to make the ladder, when in fact a ladder existed past the tree….you just needed to get past your own expectation of how hard it would be to see the ladder waiting to take you to the next place. You might even find that a helicopter would simply place you on the next realm of your goal through your diligence, someone believed in you enough to help. You simply had to stop believing the tree was the ladder. In that way, so many of us make mountains out of molehills and the very possible a much more difficult task…

and sometimes, often in fact, it was just a matter of saying you were ready to own a ladder and it will appear in the form of an opportunity….to learn….so the real question is…

Are you teachable? Are you willing to give up what you thought was the path to success?

The Two Girls….

November 22, 2011 in Growing Into Lovely, Living Your Values, She's So There with 4 Comments

At fifteen…she wonders if she’ll be pretty enough…shy and becoming a woman, she’s aware others measure her…

she loves to bake, and share what she makes with others….

she wonders if it’ll matter, what she is on the inside or will they simply dismiss her based on her outer shell

folks can be so skin deep sometimes…

A stranger comes to the door…all of seventy and three she’s come to call…a new friend

We watch them, her seventy plus three old wrinkled hands, working the potholders with such delicate care

presenting, sharing, caring that a new family in town has warmth and welcome

My daughter smiles and connects to the blue eyes dancing, her snow white hair, and somehow the sixty years between them disappears..

a heart for baking they share and the kindred spirit of giving…before long they are immersed in laughter and sharing…

For our newcomer has opened more than our front door…

hugging our necks and welcoming us into her town, her church, inviting us to safe new home in her heart…

my daughter turns as our new friend leaves…her step a bit slower as the new friend cautiously uses her cane to go down the stairs…

and my daughter says to me

she is beautiful

really…

she is gorgeous…mom, every wrinkle on her face is amazing

because she saw her from the inside out…love applied focused the beauty…

and it is I who am blessed by them both

Integrity Matters…100% of the Time

November 16, 2011 in Basics Matter, Growing Into Lovely, Living Your Values, Sweetie As Strategist with 0 Comments

When I work with small businesses and entrepreneurs there is often a conversation about what they should offer for FREE to engage someone’s email on their list, to entice someone to work with them as a company, or to try their product. Personally I’d rather be asked about a list and told “when you join our mailing list we’ll give you x y z, than to imply the gift is the reason they are asking.

Integrity matters to me.

The mentality is that you have to be “free” to have people try you before they buy your services or product. There is a place for that in production testing, in deciding how or if something is desired in the market, and we all like to be enticed to try something new. However, if you are a solopreneur, small business and or entrepreneur I implore businesses and clients to see if their integrity lines up with what they are saying. “Free Consultation” can imply that at no risk to the client, they are having a “look see” at you as a service or product provider. That may be true, but to be effective it isn’t free. You’re asking for an investment of time, intellect and effort in return for a truthful taste of your services. However, it is rarely free for either the potential or the business seeking the potential. I haven’t met many successful companies that don’t truly understand the cost of that procurement of the client or purchase. It may be cost effective for Big Box Brand A to spend 40 hours with one of their strategist giving “free” consultations each month with the hopes of gaining a revenue share of those consultations and transition them into clients. However for the solopreneur, the stakes would be awfully high to do so. Let’s do the math:

40 hours of the 170 hours a month an average worker works = 1/4 of their income producing time (and the majority of those calls may be 20-30% effective for producing future income at best, the majority being a waste of time if pre qualifiers are not in place) = 40 hours of limited to no income producing activities.

40 hours of potential interviews/try before you buy sessions most likely means 20 hrs of additional prep time for calls, so its truly 60 hrs per month of invested time

That’s 40 hours of phone time, skype time, in person time and the costs of whatever that location or format is…

And moreover

It’s teaching folks that your time, your expertise, and your services are not worth paying for.

We won’t even talk about how many of the potentials truly never had an intention of going forward as a client.

Before you as a small business or solopreneur engage in 1/4 of your time as hopefully leading to new business, have you considered?:

A low point of entry evaluative tool for their business, services, or products with a no strings attached value for their business?
An on-going educational series available online or onsite to help them determine if they are a good candidate for your services or business?
A pre-qualifier for attributes of a well qualified “fit” for your business or service is? A Checklist or Suggestive interactive?
A component concept of levelized offerings your company provides so a company can begin where they are. We offer A, B, C D levels of service.

If these things are not in place on your social media interactions, content on your website or taught in your business blog, you might consider helping your potentials know who you are from the beginning. Engagement happens when both sides of an arrangement are assured that each is a “fit” for the needs of their business and that there is integrity in the offer.

What are you doing to communicate your value to potentials? How are you affirming what it is you do on your website, social media pages, or tweets? Why does that matter and how can you measure if what you are doing is effective? ….more on this topic to come!

Owning My Life and Making It Mine Lesson #4

November 9, 2011 in Growing Into Lovely, Life Lessons, Living Your Values with 0 Comments

There are thousands of tweets, comments, articles, and voices calling out how to succeed in business. There are millions of dollars spent annually to market to consumers about what success is supposed to look like. We’re told how to dress, what to eat, where to vacation, and how to best to direct our lives….except they leave out the punch line…to make THEM the most successful…not you.

Success is a highly personal thing. It is more than achieving x goals or making a certain amount of money. It’s living in a way that allows you to be at peace with yourself and the important people and values in your life. As a grown up, wife, mom and step mom I know that success for me personally is more than a paycheck or achieving a title or position. It’s living a life that exemplifies a path I can never completely follow, never achieve, never “finish” as a follower of Christ.

Full time, one company employee opportunities are sometimes attractive and the truth is it makes me feel good to hear them offered, but success on my score sheet has the blueprint of accessibility to my family. You see, for me, being in a 8-5 situation 5 days a week isn’t success for me as wife or a mom. It doesn’t matter what they pay, it won’t fulfill my personal goals or my professional ones. I know that when my husband is out of the country, I will be traveling with our teen who is home schooled when I need to be on location for a project. I know that that works for us because I don’t have to be there 7 days a week or even 7 days in a month. I know that in some cases a more permanent station in their corporate environment or more attention to moving up the chain might bring more esteem, but the truth for me is my marriage and my family come first. It is what I choose to put first, and then focus my client’s needs during their time. At times that means I miss out, I can’t say yes to fabulous opportunities professionally, but it means I can say yes more often than I say no to my family.

A friend of mine in business recently asked why I was happy working with small start ups as well as nationally known speakers and structures. She seemed to be confused as to how I could separate the needs of the two very different client worlds. You see I am from a small town, I know the importance of small town business and small family owned businesses, it is a heart space for me to work with their owners. The skills I learned in big organizations help me to streamline processes that will work for start ups too. The paycheck I receive as they fly is so much more meaningful to me because I see families’ lives get less stressful, become more self sufficient, and allow for parents and couples to focus on family AND on business. I love working with speakers and authors because the ones I work with teach and empower people on how to succeed in life. Whether its small business success or life choices success, they influence hundreds of thousands of people, and I am honored to be a part of that empowering environment. It’s like leaving the farm for the city boardroom literally some days, but it is a life that works for me.

No one’s life is perfect, but I go to bed each night and sleep well, because about nine years ago I stopped trying to be what every one else thought was best for me. I have the support of a husband who cherishes that we put people first over profits. My children know me and I know them. Our family is a blended one, so perhaps we knew the value of not ignoring what it takes to keep a marriage intact. Money is an important thing and I believe a workman is worth his wages, but it’s really a qualifier of someone or an organization willing to invest in growing. Money made is a tool to allow for choices to be made. Whether it’s their structure, their leadership skills, or their product line, in order to grow, a company or individual must first define who they are, and what the goals are in an integrity based way. With that truthful taste of what is…one can often help create what can be. Every one lives their own life. What works for my brothers in Texas works differently than my cousin in New York City. I can’t be them and most likely they can’t be me. Our lives are not cookie cutter shaped modules. At best, I will become who I am meant to be and I will appreciate who they are meant to be too. We are all different and yet the same, we are all in need of each other.

Living your values takes intestinal fortitude. It means facing yourself head on and returning to that person in the mirror regularly to make sure who you are on the outside is who you think you are from an inside perspective. Too often we tow the party line of what we value, but our lives truly express our values in how we spend them. It’s easy to fool yourself into believing you are powerless, that situations for you are different than for other people. It’s easy to sacrifice yourself or pity party yourself all the way to a sad, hopeless life. Why? It’s your choice you know, choose wisely, be who you are…and let the others…well, let the others become who they are.

Do You Earn Your Client’s Trust in Business?

November 8, 2011 in Life Lessons, Living Your Values, Sweetie As Strategist with 3 Comments

What is worse than being asked to spend a chunk of change for a new service, personnel or product without actual experience with it? An integrity based product or service has no fear of competition. They know their value, their strengths, and the customers they can best support. They aren’t threatened by the price they ask, because they know the value they bring to the table in a truthful way. Strong businesses understand where they fit in the marketplace, what their market share is and who is above and below them in service, value, and price. How do you earn the trust that your business offering is a value to your client? You give them a truthful taste of your integrity.

When I first began working with marketing and advertising projects that involved setting up mock ups for their graphic arts people I knew I needed the software that would allow me to perform the tasks adequately. The software companies who sold “look alike” graphic formats were many and they offered many reasons why I wouldn’t want to splurge on the “BIG” brand that was suggested was the best choice. When investigating the offers, the components, and the resources each service offered, it became apparent that “THE BIG BRAND” software was best for a reason, it also became apparent why the price they asked for their software was worth the investment. In fact, “THE BIG BRAND” was so sure of it that they provide everyone a free 30 day trial of their product WITHOUT watermarks so that anyone could use their product to afford its purchase if you are a go-getter.

That truthful taste of free software made me a word of mouth solid supporter of not only their brand, but a promoter of their value when it is questioned in my business relationships. They didn’t try to scare me into buying, they didn’t over inflate their offer or capabilities, they simply said “We’re the best because…” They clearly communicated in an educational way why their features mattered and were worth paying the price to engage.

I often work with solopreneurs and/or entrepreneurs. They want to use the “Price is Position” proposition. (code words for I think they have money so I have upped my price..ALWAYS a wrong move, for its not based in integrity) In other words, they think “if I set my price high, they’ll think my value is high.” Usually without regard for the tasks involved, the time involved, the skill level engaged, the risk for the client without their knowledge or the potential of profit for the client. I find the complete opposite is true. When a solopreneur or entrepreneur takes the time to educate their potential on the value of their work and to offer a truthful taste of the quality of their work and/or product for a reasonable price, well it just makes the close easier. No one has difficulty seeing the value of paying money to make money. No one wants a low level proficiency surgeon or a high dollar ditch digger when something else would be more appropriate.

As a business owner and purchase agent for services for many of my professional clients, I want to be able to share my own truthful tastes in experiences with products and services I have bought or will return to buy again and again. My recommendation is a reflection on my trust-ability. I am careful about who and what I refer folks to for that reason. I know that if I say “xyz” is of value because ______” …people are listening, so blanket statements won’t do. The clients I work with range from corporate to just leaving their cul de sac as entrepreneurs…so my experience in knowing what a proper support system or product better be based on more than one level of service. What a corporate in an online and urban setting might need for logo branding may be a completely different fit than what Suzy Q Donuts may need in a rural branding/marketing strategy. Knowing that difference is what affirms MY value.

What are you doing to earn trust in business? How is your trust-ability a value proposition for your business success? How important is that trust in your product or services for your on-going employment or engagement? What are you doing to leave your clients with a truthful taste of your offerings in business? It is my experience that people and companies that succeed for the long run EARN the trust they receive. Whom do you trust in business? What truthful taste began a path and your repeat purchases or service engagements? What products do you put your trust in?